James Laxer

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Canadian political economist, historian, public intellectual and political activist

title: "James Laxer" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1941-births", "2018-deaths", "20th-century-canadian-historians", "21st-century-canadian-historians", "canadian-broadcasting-corporation-people", "canadian-columnists", "canadian-economists", "canadian-nationalists", "canadian-political-scientists", "canadian-radio-personalities", "canadian-socialists", "canadian-television-hosts", "canadian-screen-award-winners", "historians-of-canada", "independent-candidates-in-the-1974-canadian-federal-election", "jewish-canadian-politicians", "jewish-socialists", "journalists-from-montreal", "new-democratic-party-(canada)-politicians", "canadian-democratic-socialists", "politicians-from-montreal", "toronto-candidates-for-member-of-parliament", "post-keynesian-economists", "queen's-university-at-kingston-alumni", "toronto-star-people", "university-of-toronto-alumni", "writers-about-globalization", "writers-from-montreal", "writers-from-toronto", "academic-staff-of-york-university", "jewish-canadian-journalists", "jewish-canadian-screenwriters", "canadian-documentary-film-directors", "tvo-people"] description: "Canadian political economist, historian, public intellectual and political activist" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Laxer" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Canadian political economist, historian, public intellectual and political activist ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox academic"]

FieldValue
nameJames Laxer
birth_nameJames Robert Laxer
birth_date
birth_placeMontreal, Quebec, Canada
death_date
death_placeParis, France
known_forCo-founding the Waffle
spouse
children
parents
awards
alma_mater
influences
disciplinePolitical science
sub_disciplinePolitical economy
school_tradition
workplacesYork University
doctoral_students
notable_students
main_interests
notable_worksReckoning: The Political Economy of Canada (1986)
::

| name = James Laxer | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = James Robert Laxer | birth_date = | birth_place = Montreal, Quebec, Canada | death_date = | death_place = Paris, France | other_names = | occupation = | period = | known_for = Co-founding the Waffle | title = | spouse = | children = | parents = | awards = | alma_mater = | thesis_title = | thesis_url = | thesis_year = | doctoral_advisor = | academic_advisors = | influences = | era = | discipline = Political science | sub_discipline = Political economy | school_tradition = | workplaces = York University | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | main_interests = | notable_works = Reckoning: The Political Economy of Canada (1986) | notable_ideas = | influenced = | signature = | signature_alt = | signature_size = James Robert Laxer (22 December 1941 – 23 February 2018), also known as Jim Laxer, was a Canadian political economist, historian, public intellectual, and political activist who served as a professor at York University. Best known as co-founder of the Waffle, on whose behalf he ran for the leadership of the New Democratic Party in 1971, he was the author of more than two dozen books, mostly on Canadian political economy and history.

Early life and family

Laxer was born in Montreal, Quebec, on 22 December 1941 and was the son of Edna May Quentin and Robert Laxer, a psychologist, professor, author, and political activist. His father was Jewish and his mother was from a Protestant family. Her father, Reverend A.P. Quentin, a missionary to China for 30 years, had changed the family name from Quirmbach around the time of World War I.

Both of Laxer's parents were members of the Communist Party of Canada and its public face, the Labor-Progressive Party, with Robert Laxer being a national organizer for the party. The Laxers left the party, along with many other members, following Khrushchev's Secret Speech revealing Joseph Stalin's crimes, and the 1956 Soviet invasion of Hungary. James Laxer wrote about his experiences growing up during this period in his memoir Red Diaper Baby: A Boyhood in the Age of McCarthyism. His father came to serve as a significant influence on his political worldview.

His paternal grandfather was a rabbi and his maternal grandfather was a minister and Christian missionary to China, where Laxer's mother was born. His brother, Gordon Laxer, became a political economist, author, and founder of the Parkland Institute.

He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto and Master of Arts (following approval of his thesis French-Canadian Newspapers and Imperial Defence, 1899–1914 in 1967) and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Queen's University. He was an active student journalist both at The Varsity at the University of Toronto and later at the Queen's Journal and was elected president of Canadian University Press in 1965.

Laxer married three times. He married Diane Taylor in 1965, from whom he was divorced in 1969. He married Krista Maeots in 1969. They had two children: Michael and Katherine (known as "Kate"). She was a producer at CBC Radio for This Country in the Morning with Peter Gzowski, and then created and was executive producer of CBC Radio's Morningside program with Don Harron. | last1 = Gzowski | first1 = Peter | title = Thank you, Krista, we will all miss you dearly | work = Toronto Star | date = 13 October 1978 | page = A3 | url = https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-toronto-star-thank-you-krista-we-w/157354218/ | access-date = 18 October 2024 | via = Newspapers.com | author = WS Staff | title = Former Kingston resident missing, presumed drowned | work = The Whig-Standard | publisher = Kingston Whig-Standard Co. Inc. | location = Kingston, Ontario | date = 6 October 1978 | page = 33 | url = https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-kingston-whig-standard-former-kingst/157354061/ | access-date = 18 October 2024 | via = Newspapers.com

Political career

In 1969, Laxer, along with his father Robert Laxer, Mel Watkins, and others, founded the Waffle, a left-wing group influenced by the New Left, the anti–Vietnam War movement, and Canadian economic nationalism, that tried to influence the direction of the New Democratic Party (NDP). Laxer was a principal author of their Manifesto for an Independent Socialist Canada in 1969 alongside Ed Broadbent and Gerald Caplan. The manifesto was debated at the 1969 federal NDP convention and was rejected by the delegates in favour of a more moderate declaration.

In 1971, Laxer ran for the leadership of the federal NDP and shocked the convention by winning one-third of the vote on the fourth and final ballot against party stalwart David Lewis. and Laxer concentrated on his work at York University, where he was a professor of political science for 47 years, and in broadcasting.

In 1981, he was hired as director of research for the federal NDP, but left in controversy in 1983 when he published a report critiquing the party's economic policy as being "out of date".

Academic, writer, and broadcaster

Laxer hosted The Real Story, a nightly half-hour current affairs program on TVOntario in the early 1980s. He also variously wrote a column and op-ed pieces for the Toronto Star from the 1980s until shortly before his death, as well as op-ed pieces for The Globe and Mail. He also played "Talleyrand", a mock political insider, on CBC Radio's Morningside in the 1980s.

Laxer co-wrote and presented the five-part National Film Board documentary series Reckoning: The Political Economy of Canada in 1986, which examined Canada's economic and political relationships with the United States The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation refused to air the series due to its critical view of free trade with the United States, which was being negotiated at the time, and it aired instead on TVOntario and other educational channels in Canada as well as a number of PBS stations in the United States.

A democratic socialist, He wrote extensively about the influence of American multinational corporations in the Canadian economy, particularly in the oil and gas industry, and his agitation helped lead to the creation of Petro-Canada. The creation of the Foreign Investment Review Agency, and the Canadian Development Corporation in the 1970s is also attributed in part to the work of Laxer, Watkins, and the Waffle. In the 1980s he strongly opposed the adoption of the Canada–US Free Trade Agreement, though he still believed that free trade agreements were capable of being used to the advantage of the political left through the entrenchment of social charters.

Laxer died suddenly and unexpectedly in Paris of heart-related problems on 23 February 2018 while in Europe researching a book on Canada's role in the Second World War.

Selected works

  • {{cite book|author=James Laxer and Robert Laxer|title=The Liberal Idea of Canada: Pierre Trudeau and the Question of Canada's Survival|url=https://archive.org/details/liberalideaofcan0000laxe|url-access=registration|year=1977|publisher=James Lorimer & Company |isbn=0888621248}}
  • {{cite book|author=James Laxer|title=Empire|year=2006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YCPZ8l92heoC| publisher=Groundwood Books Canada|isbn=9781554980154}}

References

Citations

Works cited

  • {{cite book |last=Azzi |first=Stephen |year=1999 |title=Walter Gordon and the Rise of Canadian Nationalism |location=Montreal |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |isbn=978-0-7735-1840-7
  • {{cite book |last=Azzi |first=Stephen |author-mask= |year=2012 |chapter=The Nationalist Moment in English Canada |editor1-last=Campbell |editor1-first=Lara |editor2-last=Clément |editor2-first=Dominique |editor2-link=Dominique Clément |editor3-last=Kealey |editor3-first=Gregory S. |editor3-link=Gregory Kealey |title=Debating Dissent: Canada and the Sixties |location=Toronto |publisher=University of Toronto Press |pages=213–228 |isbn=978-1-4426-1078-1
  • {{cite journal |last=Bullen |first=John |year=1983 |title=The Ontario Waffle and the Struggle for an Independent Socialist Canada: Conflict within the NDP |journal=Canadian Historical Review |volume=64 |issue=2 |pages=188–215 |doi=10.3138/CHR-064-02-04 |s2cid=154732043 |issn=0008-3755
  • {{cite thesis |last=Burgess |first=William |year=2002 |title=Canada's Location in the World System: Reworking the Debate in Canadian Political Economy |url=https://www.kpu.ca/sites/default/files/downloads/Canada_s_Location_in_the_World_System__Burgess__2002_10175.pdf |degree=PhD |location=Vancouver |publisher=University of British Columbia |isbn=978-0-612-73136-3 |access-date=1 March 2018 |archive-date=1 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180301164459/https://www.kpu.ca/sites/default/files/downloads/Canada_s_Location_in_the_World_System__Burgess__2002_10175.pdf |url-status=dead
  • {{cite journal |last=Doughty |first=Howard A. |year=2005 |title=Review of Red Diaper Baby: A Boyhood in the Age of McCarthyism by James Laxer |url=http://collegequarterly.ca/2005-vol08-num01-winter/reviews/doughty6.html |journal=College Quarterly |volume=8 |issue=1 |access-date=23 February 2018
  • {{cite book |last1=Erickson |first1=Lynda |last2=Laycock |first2=David |year=2015 |chapter=Party History and Electoral Fortunes, 1961–2003 |editor1-last=Laycock |editor1-first=David |editor2-last=Erickson |editor2-first=Lynda |title=Reviving Social Democracy: The Near Death and Surprising Rise of the Federal NDP |location=Vancouver |publisher=UBC Press |pages=13ff |isbn=978-0-7748-2852-9
  • {{cite book |last=Evans |first=Gary |year=1991 |title=In the National Interest: A Chronicle of the National Film Board of Canada from 1949 to 1989 |url=https://archive.org/details/innationalintere0000evan |url-access=registration |location=Toronto |publisher=University of Toronto |publication-date=2001 |isbn=978-0-8020-6833-0
  • {{cite book |last=Fleming |first=R. B. |year=2010 |title=Peter Gzowski: A Biography |location=Toronto |publisher=Dundurn Press |isbn=978-1-77070-539-5
  • {{cite book |last=Gonick |first=Cy |author-link=Cy Gonick |year=1987 |title=The Great Economic Debate: Failed Economics and a Future for Canada |location=Toronto |publisher=James Lorimer & Company |isbn=978-0-88862-701-8
  • {{cite book |last1=Howlett |first1=Michael |author1-link=Michael P. Howlett |last2=Netherton |first2=Alex |last3=Ramesh |first3=M. |year=1999 |title=The Political Economy of Canada: An Introduction |edition=2nd |location=Don Mills, Ontario |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-541348-9
  • {{cite book |last=Isitt |first=Benjamin |year=2011 |title=Militant Minority: British Columbia Workers and the Rise of a New Left, 1948–1972 |location=Toronto |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-1-4426-4194-5
  • {{cite thesis |last=Laxer |first=James |year=1967 |title=French-Canadian Newspapers and Imperial Defence, 1899–1914 |degree=MA |location=Kingston, Ontario |publisher=Queen's University |oclc=933108264
  • {{cite book |last=Laxer |first=James |author-mask= |year=1996 |title=In Search of a New Left: Canadian Politics after the Neoconservative Assault |location=Toronto |publisher=Viking |isbn=978-0-670-85901-6
  • {{cite book |last=Laxer |first=James |author-mask= |year=2003 |title=The Border: Canada, the US and Dispatches From the 49th Parallel |location=Toronto |publisher=Anchor Canada |publication-date=2010 |isbn=978-0-385-67290-0
  • {{cite book |last=Laxer |first=James |author-mask= |year=2004 |title=Red Diaper Baby: A Boyhood in the Age of McCarthyism |location=Vancouver |publisher=Douglas & McIntyre |isbn=978-1-55365-073-7
  • {{cite book |last=Laxer |first=James |author-mask= |year=2012 |title=Tecumseh and Brock: The War of 1812 |location=Toronto |publisher=House of Anansi Press |isbn=978-1-77089-195-1
  • {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=Scott B. |last2=Gastmann |first2=Albert L. |year=2001 |title=A History of Credit and Power in the Western World |location=New Brunswick, New Jersey |publisher=Transaction Publishers |publication-date=2009 |isbn=978-0-7658-0085-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofcreditp00albe_0
  • {{cite book |last=Mandel |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Mandel (law professor) |year=1992 |chapter=Sovereignty and the New Constitutionalism |editor1-last=Drache |editor1-first=Daniel |editor1-link=Daniel Drache |editor2-last=Perin |editor2-first=Roberto |title=Negotiating with a Sovereign Quebec |location=Toronto |publisher=James Lorimer & Company |pages=215–229 |isbn=978-1-55028-392-1 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/negotiatingwiths0000unse/page/215
  • {{cite book |last=McAllister |first=James |year=1984 |title=Government of Edward Schreyer: Democratic Socialism in Manitoba |location=Montreal |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |isbn=978-0-7735-0436-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/governmentofedwa0000mcal
  • {{cite book |last=Miller |first=Carman |author-link=Carman Miller |year=1993 |title=Painting the Map Red: Canada and the South African War, 1899–1902 |location=Montreal |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |isbn=978-0-7735-0913-9
  • {{cite book |last=Pitsula |first=James M. |year=2008 |title=New World Dawning: The Sixties at Regina Campus |series=Canadian Plains Studies |volume=56 |location=Regina, Saskatchewan |publisher=Canadian Plains Research Center |isbn=978-0-88977-210-6 |issn=0317-6290 |url=https://archive.org/details/newworlddawnings0000pits
  • {{cite book |last=Smart |first=Pat |year=2009 |chapter=Queen's University History Department |editor-last=Palaeologu |editor-first=M. Athena |title=The Sixties in Canada: A Turbulent and Creative Decade |location=Montreal |publisher=Black Rose Books |pages=310–318 |isbn=978-1-55164-331-1 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/sixtiesincanadat0000unse/page/310
  • {{cite book |last=Warnock |first=John W. |year=1988 |title=Free Trade and the New Right Agenda |url=https://archive.org/details/freetradenewrigh0000warn |url-access=registration |location=Vancouver |publisher=New Star Books |isbn=978-0-919573-79-6
  • {{cite encyclopedia |last=Watkins |first=Mel |author-link=Mel Watkins |year=2015 |orig-year=2006 |title=Waffle |url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/waffle/ |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |location=Toronto |publisher=Historica Canada |access-date=27 February 2018

References

  1. French, Orland. (12 January 2002). "Lives of the Intellectual Saints". The Globe and Mail.
  2. Nerenberg, Karl. (26 February 2018). "James Laxer and the Movement He Helped Create". Rabble.ca.
  3. "TPL Eh List: James Laxer". House of Anansi Press.
  4. Fulford, Robert. (11 September 2004). "A Rare Glimpse at Canadian Stalinism". National Post.
  5. (November 17, 2023). "Flash From the Past: Local missionary / author and artist combine talents". Waterloo Region Record.
  6. Rizza, Alanna. (25 February 2018). "James Laxer, One-Time NDP Leadership Candidate, Dead at 76". Toronto Star.
  7. "Gordon Laxer". Parkland Institute.
  8. "Jim Laxer". York University.
  9. (8 January 1965). "Laxer Chosen CUP National President". Alma Mater Society.
  10. Harris, James F.. (2014). "James Robert Laxer".
  11. (March 11, 2018). "James Laxer, 76, was one of the founders of the Waffle movement in the NDP". Globe and Mail'.
  12. (6 October 1978). "Producer's Death Halts Radio Show". Ottawa Journal.
  13. (3 November 1978). "Honeymoon Falls' Story Is One of Destruction". Ottawa Journal.
  14. Watkins, Mel. (27 February 2018). "Reflections on Jim Laxer". Rabble.ca.
  15. (March 15, 1984). "Hansard".
  16. Laxer, Michael. (26 February 2018). "Remembering James Laxer, Canadian Iconoclast".
  17. "James Laxer fonds Inventory #166".
  18. "James Laxer". York University.
  19. Hays, Matthew. (12 March 2009). "To NFB or Not to NFB".
  20. (2013). "Inventory of the James Laxer Fonds". York University.

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